Book Review: Wildcard by Marie Lu

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: Wildcard (Warcross #2)

Author: (Marie Lu)

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers

Release Date: September 18, 2018

ISBN: 0399548017 (ISBN13: 9780399548017)

Emika Chen barely made it out of the Warcross Championships alive. Now that she knows the truth behind Hideo’s new NeuroLink algorithm, she can no longer trust the one person she’s always looked up to, who she once thought was on her side.

Determined to put a stop to Hideo’s grim plans, Emika and the Phoenix Riders band together, only to find a new threat lurking on the neon-lit streets of Tokyo. Someone’s put a bounty on Emika’s head, and her sole chance for survival lies with Zero and the Blackcoats, his ruthless crew. But Emika soon learns that Zero isn’t all that he seems–and his protection comes at a price.

Caught in a web of betrayal, with the future of free will at risk, just how far will Emika go to take down the man she loves?

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Marie Lu

I write young adult novels, and have a special love for dystopian books. Ironically, I was born in 1984. Before becoming a full-time writer, I was an Art Director at a video game company. Now I shuffle around at home and talk to myself a lot. 🙂

I graduated from the University of Southern California in ’06 and currently live in LA, where I spend my time stuck on the freeways.

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MY REVIEW

Warcross was my first book review on this blog, and it’s sad and bittersweet for me to see the end of this amazing duology.

Wildcard was a lot more complex than Warcross. It’s the ‘darker’ one among the two, as the covers suggest. But I still see everything familiar that I love about Marie Lu’s futuristic masterpiece.

The world-building is magnificent and splendid. Full of neon lights and a huge burst of color and tech, you wouldn’t want to escape the world of Wildcard. The author designed the perfect world for this story, outlined and clarified down to the tiniest detail. Oh, I’m not joking when I say it’s detailed.

The charaters are…well, okay. I don’t feel any strong connection toward any of them, though I admire Hammie’s intellect, Jax’s resilience, Hideo’s passion, and Sasuke’s…well, Sasuke-ness. They’re fairly likeable characters, and I really love Roshan and Tremaine’s relationship development. Apart from their awesome skills, though, I don’t see anything special about them that sets them apart from what I expect from this book. Also: Emika should really work on her trust, because I think she trusts people a bit too much, considering her situation.

The plot was really cool! It kept me on the edge and it was heart-poundingly good. Fast-paced and definitely not boring, which is just my type. There were a couple of plot twists that I did not see coming, which were pleasant surprises. In some cases, however, it was, well, predictable

Overall, you do not want to miss this complex, thrilling sequel to one of the best futuristic YA Science Fiction novels of the age.

MY RATING

4 / 5 stars

Check out: Book Review: Warcross by Marie Lu

(I still cringe whenever I read my first book review lol)

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